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leadership 51 planning a successful recruitment strategy The main reason Freeman is so success- ful in recruiting new teachers, Addicoat says, is that he follows a well-planned strategy. ‘We begin a discussion of teaching as a career in Year 11 through year-level meet- ings, then in Year 12 we target those who have shown interest in teaching. Forums are established between ex-students who are at university or on staff to talk about their experiences. Then we have the Br Kelvin visit, the Mark Rix interviews and the awarding of scholarships. After the HSC, we keep in contact with these stu- dents to assist them if needed. We also let them know they’re welcome to come back to Freeman for their practice teaching. It’s a process. ‘When I was first appointed a princi- pal, there was a myth around that said you should never allow ex-students to come back to your school, and at first I went along with it, but when I experienced it here at Freeman, I exposed it for the myth it was because I found that students returning as teachers embrace the culture and work as hard as any other young person – even more so. I do agree that they shouldn’t stay at the one school forever, however. ‘What happens is that when they do come back, most get senior classes very quickly and soon they’re promoted into assistant coordinator positions.’ He has not, he says, had one negative experience from ex- students who’ve come back as teachers. In fact, he’s lost five such young teachers taking up promotion positions in other schools. ‘More than half of our students go into primary teaching, so many of these schools in the southwest are staffed by Freeman ex- students. ‘The culture you create and the relation- ships that are formed at the school are what nurture this success. When they spend six years in such an environment more than a few students say, “Hey, I’d like to be part of that too,’’’ Addicoat says. What do students say? Yonita Younan and Danielle Deguara, from the Year 12 class of 2007, plan to take up teaching. Younan says she first wanted to be a teacher at the beginning of Year 12. ‘I real- ised how much my teachers had actually gone out of their way for me. I also real- ised that it was more than a professional relationship – they were also my friends,’ Younan says. ‘I loved Legal Studies up until Year 12 and then I thought about it and realised that if I became a lawyer I’d be doing the same thing pretty much every day for the rest of my life. If I become a teacher I’ll be see- ing new people and doing new things every day.’ Deguara always wanted to be a teacher but changed her sights from primary to secondary teaching in her senior years. She too was influenced by the dedication of her teachers. Sanya Baric, currently majoring in eco- nomics at ACU National, says she wants to teach at Freeman, ‘If Michael will have me.’ She recently finished a practicum at Freeman and was reminded once again how much work teachers really do – much of it behind closed doors. ‘When you go home every day there’s work to do. It’s not watching TV,’ but says Baric, she loves it already. ‘I find it such a challenge and to me the most impor- tant thing is making every lesson completely different for my students. All the teachers here are so supportive. Whether it be lunch- time or recess, every single teacher would go out of their way to help me.’ Also currently in teacher training at uni- versity, Oscar Texeira’s story is a little bit different in that he didn’t want to become a teacher until a year after he left school. ‘I started an accounting career path at the University of Sydney, but my experience of being surrounded by money-driven peo- ple put me off,’ Texeira says. ‘The dollar has its place in the world we live in, but I realised that’s not what drives me. I want to make a difference to people’s lives – not their wallets. ‘Changing to teaching has allowed me to combine all my passions, because I’m going